1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to the use of advertising to pay for telecommunication services. In particular, this invention is related to the use of advertising to pay for an automatic callback feature for busy directory numbers.
2. Description of the Problem
Telecommunication today on the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), is marked by the proliferation of numerous services to provide convenience to users. Among these services is automatic callback, through which a caller to a busy directory number (DN) can have the number monitored. When the DN becomes free, the originator of the call is automatically called back by the PSTN. When the originator picks up the callback, the DN which was called is rung. In this scenario, a PSTN switch between the originator and the telephone associated with the DN offers to keep trying the busy number for an additional cost.
FIG. 1 illustrates how the automatic callback feature works. According to FIG. 1, a caller or originator, 110, attempts to call equipment, 114, associated with a busy DN. End office switch 112 serves the telephone equipment, 114, associated with the busy DN. At 101 the caller dials the called party DN. At 102 and 103 the switch attempts to establish a connection with the called party DN and receives an indication that the called party is busy, or that the telephone that the called party is using is off-hook. At 104 the end office switch plays a message asking the caller if the caller would like to be notified when the called party becomes idle. If the caller accepts, the end office switch, 112, activates a feature called automatic callback (ACB). ACB is defined for POTS (plain old telephone system) in Telcordia (formerly BELCORE) standard TR-NWT-000215, Issue 3, June 1993, and for ISDN (integrated services digital network) in Telcordia standard TR-NWT-000855, Issue Jun. 3, 1993, both of which are widely distributed and available from many technical libraries, or can be ordered from Telcordia Technologies, Inc. The ACB facility monitors the line state of the telephone line associated with the called DN to determine if the line is busy or idle. When the called party becomes idle, the caller is notified and a call is established between the two agents.
The automatic callback feature, while extremely useful and beneficial, is under-utilized because many users of the PSTN do not want to pay the fee associated with the use of the feature. Telephone companies do not wish to provide the feature for free and forfeit the revenue currently realized through collecting charges for the feature. The use of advertising to pay for goods and services is already well known. In addition the idea of targeting advertising to users of the Public Switch Telephone Network is known. International patent application number PCT/US98/08087, published on Dec. 10, 1998, under the publication number WO 98/56154 discusses the targeting of advertising to users of a telecommunication network. What is needed is a way to pay for automatic callback service through the use of advertising, so that users do not have to pay for the service and telephone companies still realize revenue from providing the service.
The present invention meets the above needs by providing an advertising system for users of the PSTN. Using the present invention, a caller to a busy DN is provided with the option of listening to advertising messages while waiting for a switch which serves the called DN to try the called number and make a connection when the called number is no longer busy. The provider of the telephone services for the caller sells advertising time on the service to maintain a revenue stream from providing the automatic callback service.
According to the present invention a switch which is implementing the service first receives a call from the originator which is destined for a directory number which is busy. The switch notifies the originator of the busy directory number and determines if the originator has activated the automatic callback feature according to the invention. If the originator has activated the feature, the call is forwarded to an advertisements server and the DN is monitored. When the DN is no longer busy the originator is connected. According to one embodiment of the invention the call is processed using the automatic callback (ACB) facility. According to another embodiment of the invention the call is processed using an advanced intelligent network (AIN) trigger.
The invention is typically implemented using a computer program product for the equipment involved. A computer program product includes a media with computer program code which causes the systems involved to perform the necessary operations. A switch which implements the invention includes a switching matrix, one or more peripheral modules connected to the switching matrix, one or more input/output devices connected to the switching matrix, and a processor core which controls the operation of the switch and, during operation, contains the computer program code which implements the invention.
The telecommunication network in which the invention operates includes the originator customer premises equipment, the destination customer premises equipment (CPE) which is associated with the called DN, and one or more switches disposed between the originator and destination CPE. At least one of the one or more switches includes the computer program code which implements the invention. Usually, the invention will be implemented at the end office switch. An advertisements server which contains the audio advertisements stored on a media, is connected to the switch which implements the invention. Where AIN is used to implement the invention, the switch is also connected to a service control point (SCP).